Herein, knees, elbows, and shoulders of a wearer are regarded as examples of large articulatable joints including the arm or leg of the wearer, while the knuckles of a wearer are regarded as examples of small articulatable joints of the wearer. Although this invention pertains particularly to a pad wearable over a large articulatable joint of a wearer, this invention may prove to be also pertinent to a pad wearable over a small articulatable joint of a wearer.
Commonly, protective garments for firefighters and for emergency workers are provided with knee, elbow, or shoulder pads, as exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 5,896,583, No. 6,317,889, and No. 6,678,895. Because such garments can be somewhat stiff, particularly if such garments have plural layers including outer shells and insulative linings, it is desirable for such pads to be sufficiently flexible to avert stressing their wearers unduly.